Chapter 83

'And that just about sums it up.' Jaye finished, leaning back against the stack of blocks he was seated on. Kamina lounged next to him, having reappeared at some point during the storytelling for what he called "moral support", which just comprised of him adding in unnecessary details and overall manging to annoy the crap out of Jaye. Alexius held a hand up to stop the boy.

'So let me get this straight.' She placed her fingers on the bridge of her nose, pinching it in confusion. 'You were part of the biggest underground criminal organization, Kamina died but not really, you died but not really, you joined Beacon, fought in the Fall, your ex-teammate betrayed you and trained those twins whose parents you killed to assassinate you, then you thwarted the twins' assassination of you, got betrayed by them, then saved the twins when your ex-teammate betrayed them, then your girlfriend but not really dies for real, then your ex-teammate dies for real, and now you're training and traveling with the twins whose parents and traitorous master you killed, alongside your friends from Beacon.'

'Not exactly how I would have phrased it, but that's the gist of it yeah.' The raven-haired boy said, twirling a knife absent-mindedly between his fingers. 'I told you it was complicated.'

'Complicated is an understatement.' Harriet said, rubbing her eyes with a hand as Alexius stared at the floor. 'Why is everything always horrible with you?'

'I don't think our time together was that horrible.' Jaye crossed his arms. 'I rather think I was quite good to you.'

'Speaking of which.' Alexius interrupted again. 'When you were dating Harriet, you were technically together with this Indigo lady correct?'

'Yes?'

'And she was aware of this.'

'It was the mission, yes.'

'So you intentionally two-timed your then girlfriend with Harriet for a job, and in turn two-timed Harriet with your then girlfriend.'

'I don't like where this conversation is going.' Jaye raised an eyebrow at the girls. 'Why are we always doing this?'

'You hurt Harriet.' Alexius stated, folding her arms over her chest. Harriet elbowed the girl, shushing her anxiously, but Alexius waved her away. 'No, I'm going to say my piece! I care about Harriet a lot; a whole lot more than anyone else. When she saw you amongst the assassins that day, can you even imagine how she felt? Do you have any idea what you did to her?' Alexius got up from her seat, stalking over to the boy, who sighed as she approached. 'What you did was unforgivable. And worse, you did it for terrible reasons too.'

'It was a necessary deception. We all agreed to it.'

'And we were your victims, is that right?'

'If you consider yourselves to be.' Jaye rolled his eyes. 'Look, it was just business. I mean, look at Marrow!' He gestured at the dog boy. 'He was "dating" Indigo too!'

'Please he was a boy toy at best.' Kamina scoffed. 'But he's got a point. Why're you harping about this so much? I don't see Marrow bothered by this.'

'Who cares about her? She's dead.' Harriet scoffed. 'We're talking about you.'

The air dropped several degrees in a heartbeat, and the Ace Ops turned to the raven-haired boy who had gone dead silent. Jaye picked himself slowly off the block he was sitting on, getting to his feet as the temperature fell further. Harriet got to her feet, narrowing her eyes at the boy. Icicles started forming on everyone's skin, and Kamina made a sound of warning to the boy.

'Hare. I'm going to say this once for your own sake.' The raven-haired boy finally broke the silence, their breaths crystalizing deafeningly in the still air. 'Speak about Indigo that way ever again, and I'm going to remove your head from your body.'

'Okay, things are getting out of hand.' Alexius cut in, placing herself between the two before a fight broke out. 'Point is that you're here, and I think if we want to be able to work together in a professional fashion then we need to lay these issues out to clear the air.'

'There's nothing to clear.' Harriet said, earning herself a glare from the shield bearing girl. She jumped off from her seat, pacing in the direction of the door. 'I'll work with you as long as I have to, but don't expect any forgiveness from me.'

'Never did.' Jaye said, crossing his arms. 'I said this once I'll say it again. You were a means to an end, and I did what I had to do.'

'So that's it huh.' Harriet came to a slow stop, hands balled into fists, but even with her back turned to the group they could tell that she was crying. Her voice trembled ever so slightly as she spoke, and Jaye felt a pang run through his chest. 'You know I always knew that was all I meant to you, but I suppose I just had to hear you say it.'

Jaye scratched the back of his head awkwardly, staring at literally everything else other than the woman standing silently by the door. He heaved a heavy sigh, letting his hands fall to his sides, but words failed him as the woman started walking again. He balled his hands into fists, watching the training room doors close behind her and shutting him out from her life. Alexius sighed heavily, turning to the boy.

'I-.' She started, but try as she might she couldn't find the words to say to him. 'Forget it. We won't bring it up again.'

'I'm sorry.' Jaye said shortly, not meeting Alexius's gaze. 'I never wanted this.'

'None of us did.' The brunette said, turning away from the boy. She slung her shield over her back, turning to chase after her partner and best friend. 'But we'll make the best of it.' She jogged over to the door, flinching backwards as it opened. 'Captain!'

'Evening Alex.' Clover said, turning to the rest of his team still gathered around the team of ex-assassins. 'Training with the boys?'

'We were sir. It was instructive to say the least.' Alexius admitted, glancing past the man. 'Did you happen to see Harriet on the way out?'

'I did. She seemed keen on avoiding my gaze though, did something happen?' The captain of the Ace Ops asked, and Alexius shook her head.

'Just something personal.' She said vaguely. 'Do we have a new mission order?'

'For us, yes.' The man smiled. 'As for the group of ex-assassins over there, forced time off. General's orders.'

'Well why not.' The boys glanced across each other. 'Might be a good time for a date.'

'Or you could hang with us?' Kamina gestured at himself and the twins. 'Team night out?'

'I'll see if Yang has plans first.' The boy smiled. 'Been a while since we've had time for a date.'

'Team FNKI invited us out dancing.' Blake said, fussing over some invisible imperfection in her hair as she and Yang prepared to leave. 'Yang and I thought it would be good to get out minds off the election.'

'I thought you said Team FNKI was annoying?' Ruby asked, and Jaye nodded in agreement. Yang grinned at her sister.

'That's the best part about dance clubs.' She dropped her voice into a whisper. 'I can't hear you!'

The door opened, revealing Ren and Nora, who beckoned the red-clad girl from her bunk. Weiss rolled her eyes at the group.

'I still can't believe you're going to that thing.' She said.

'Just because Ironwood dislikes Robyn doesn't mean we all have to.' Nora defended. 'From where I'm standing, both of them seem to be trying their best to help Atlas. As to who's doing a better job…'

She trailed, off leaning against the door frame with arms crossed to say she wouldn't be discussing any further. Jaye heaved a sigh, glancing at his fellow assassins as they grinned at him.

'Sounds like Yang's all tied up with her girlfriend for the night.' Mina grinned, elbowing the boy. 'What say we get something going as well huh? We can hit the dance club too.'

'No thanks, not into that.' The boy grumbled, wondering what else there was for him to do. The fox boy leaned against him heavily, and he promptly shoved him off and into the table. 'Get off.'

Jaune popped his head in through the door. 'Hey, Oscar and I are hitting the movies if anyone wants-.'

'Yup.' Jaye and Weiss responded in unison, turning tail out the door to join the two boys. Kamina exchanged glances with the twins, who made a "why not" gesture, and the party skipped out the door after the moviegoers. The seven of them paced down the hall in relative silence, other than Kamina speculating what type of movie everyone would want to watch together. Jaye sighed heavily, shaking his head. Weiss raised an eyebrow at the boy.

'What's up?'

'It's nothing.'

'It doesn't sound like nothing.' The ex-heiress said, crossing her arms. 'You're more broody than usual; don't think I haven't noticed.'

'I just-.' Jaye gave her a complicated look. 'I have this feeling, you know?'

'No, I don't know.'

'It just feels like this is the last thing we should be doing now.' He finished, ignoring her comment. 'It feels wrong, like we're trying to simulate this calm before the storm when the storm's already here.'

'It's been alright these past few months.' Weiss raised an eyebrow at the boy. 'I mean, are you sure you're not just in one of those periods where everything feels bad? It's been rough for you, more so than the rest of us.'

She glanced down at the swords still attached to his waist, and he adjusted his belt uncomfortably, laying a hand protectively over the purple handles. He sighed heavily, fingers running over the decorative violets carved into the wood.

'I like to think I can keep a clear radar even in troubling times.'

'You were a little more aggressive than normal when Pietro tried to persuade you to let him work on your swords.'

Engineering room

'Now I understand your weapons likely have some sentimental value for you, especially if you've been using them your whole life. But!' Pietro raised a finger in the air as he tried to broach his case to the stoic boy. 'I can fix that for you! Here we have the finest technology available to Atlas huntsmen, and with that I can correct that imperfection. The dated design, lack of functions, all of that can be remedied if you just say the word!'

Jaye raised an eyebrow at the man. 'What'd you say about my swords?'

'They're dated! We need a complete redesign! The design is so unimaginative we'd be better rebuilding them from scratch!'

'You want to do what to my swords?'

'I said we should remake them completely!'

'WHAT'D YOU SAY YOU SON OF A BI-!'

'I'm just saying.' Weiss pointed out. 'I get they're a memento, but you might be more affected than you think.'

'You might be right. But I've learned to never bet on a maybe.' Jaye sighed again, grimacing at the night sky. 'It just feels too good to be true now, considering what we know compared to before. Besides, we're still keeping a pretty big secret from Ironwood. I still don't entirely trust him not to overreact when something bad happens; so I don't want to get too comfortable here.'

'You can say that again.' Weiss said, shaking her head. 'Well we've always trusted your gut, and it hasn't led us astray yet. I'm inclined to believe it, even if it is your intestines.'

'Thanks. Means a lot to me.' The boy watched the moon in the distance, hand going unconsciously to his swords again. 'I just hope for once I'm wrong.'

Then everything went wrong

'This is the worst-case scenario!' Ironwood slammed his fist down into the desk, shaking it and the floor beneath. 'More people are dead, Penny's been framed, and somehow Jacques Schnee is sitting on the council!'

'That's the second shipment for Amity that was hit today.' Clover said. 'It seems election night was the last push Robyn needed to go from hometown hero to full-on vigilante.'

Winter sighed. 'I'm afraid the problem is more complicated than that.'

'It seems Robyn has emboldened our suppliers down in Mantle.' Ironwood paced nervously around his desk. 'They're refusing to sell us provisions until the city is adequately repaired. With Robyn redistributing the goods her team has stolen, the Amity project is completely stalled.'

'How is she doing?' Ruby asked, watching her android friend as she slumbered quietly in the terminal. Pietro tapped away at his computer, glancing up at the girl and his daughter.

'She's confused, scared. We'll have her recorded visual data shortly; that should prove her innocence, but the damage has already been done.' Pietro said, shaking his head.

'The damage to the city, or to her?' Jaye muttered; eyes transfixed on the girl. 'She deserves better than this; this is the same thing that happened a year ago and once again, we were in no position to help her.'

'The things people are saying about her.' Pietro slammed his fist down on the arms of his wheelchair. 'If Penny hadn't been there, Robyn would be-!'

The man erupted into a coughing fit, hunching over in his chair as he tried to recover from his exertions. Ruby shook her head, staring quietly at the wall a she thought.

'I don't think Robyn was their target.' She pondered. 'Salem's goal has always been to divide us; I think Penny was exactly where they wanted her, just like at the Vytal Festival.'

'And just like back then, someone is using our own technology against us.' Pietro said, having recovered from his earlier bout. 'This doctored footage of her came from her work all around Mantle; stolen straight from our surveillance network.'

Maria groaned. 'Ugh, hacking, technology. Why can't people just do what they used to and fight to the death? A lot simpler if you ask me.'

'For once I agree with you.' Jaye muttered, and Pietro raised a hand in thought.

'Well if we're dealing with the same enemy from Beacon, hacking into Mantle's system would be simple. Fortunately, the rest of Atlas is running on an updated network.' He said. 'Mantle doesn't really get the same benefits as our counterparts up in the floating city.'

'It was an easy affair to stay hidden here.' Jaye said. 'The situation's pretty much the same as it was three years ago.'

'And how would someone get access to that network?' Weiss asked, and Pietro adjusted his glasses for the fifth time in the last ten minutes.

'Well only a few people have clearance.' He said, finally taking them off and cleaning them with a handkerchief. 'Ironwood, the council, our cybersecurity and surveillance heads, and maybe a select few who oversee critical systems like the sewage or the heating grid.'

'The heating grid, run in partnership with the Schnee Dust Company.' Weiss lamented, and Jaye shook his head.

'Not just those.' He grimaced. 'There's plenty an underground broker with an access code if you know where to look. That's how we got ours.'

'What are you thinking?' Ruby asked, and her two teammates shook their heads.

'I don't know yet, but something isn't right.'

'Understatement of the century.'

In the underground facility housing the staff of creation

'Do you believe in me?' Ironwood asked the boy. Oscar sighed internally, keeping his face and breathing level.

'I do believe in you, but not only you.' He said, pacing past the General and into the elevator. 'I think the best thing you can do is to sit down and talk to the people you're most afraid to.'

Ironwood chuckled. 'Now you are starting to sound like him.'

Winter paced furiously back and forth as she waited for the elevator to arrive. Clutched in her hand behind her back was a sealed envelope, the wax covering stamped in with an ominous symbol. The emblem of the Schnee Dust Company. She flinched as the elevator dinged, standing to attention as Ironwood and Oscar stepped out of the metal doors. She caught the General's eye, and he immediately realized that it was going to be bad news.

'Winter, what is it?' He asked, though he could already hazard a guess from her expression. Trying to keep as cool as possible, the white-haired special operative handed him the missive wordlessly, and the General cracked the wax seal with an expression somewhere between dread and contempt. He unfurled the letter slowly, reading its contents with a deadpan expression plastered across his face. Oscar tilted his head at the group of military personnel.

'What's going on?' He asked, and the General sighed.

'It looks like you're getting your wish.' Ironwood said. Winter tried and failed to remain impassive.

'My Father's first act.' She said. 'We've all been invited to dinner where the General will be defending his seat on the council.'

End of chapter 83